as it happens the explanation of the trans-Atlantic slave trade - Coates' "lane", apparently - involves political and economic networks that extend across centuries and human population centers across the planet. that is: also dizzying complicated. the answer to "was that okay?" is a simple "no"

That Coates' moral clarity is considered SO outrageous and "brave" just highlights how corrupt so many of our media folks really are (and I know there are only like 12 jobs left which is a complex but not complicated reality).

A great philosopher recently told me: "you can always get away with saying 'I think you'll find it's more complicated than that', because it's always true. But it's not always helpful."

The justification is that it is complicated but the justification is also just that nobody is perfect actually so shut up.

inside (history) there are two wolves

My ancestor Thomas Clarkson in 1785 also came to a simple, "no". Q: "Is it lawful to make slaves of others against their will?" A: "The more however I reflected upon them... that if the contents of the Essay were true, it was time some person should see these calamities to their end."